Bloody Twilight
by ButterflykissesHermione
Summary: Chihiro returns to the Spirit World after eight long years. However she doesn't have her memories as they have been locked away in her subconscious. She remembers only the promise she and Haku made. What's more is the fact that she's not here because of an accident like the first time. She was forced to go here by an evil spirit. Can Haku and her friends help her? Or is she doomed?
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys long time no see. I was supposed to be working on My Jolly Sailor Bold. I want to but that means I would have to find my muse for the story and I just don't think I have it right now. I might later. I think part of the next chapter is written out. I can't remember so don't quote me on that. Anyways, I thought I would get go back to Spirited Away. I've been watching the movie CONSTANTLY. So yeah. Enjoy.

Remember I do not own Spirited Away or its characters. If I did there would have been an EPILOGUE OR A SEQUEL. All rights reserved for Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki. I just own the plot of the fanfic.

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Chapter One: Return to the Spirit World

Eight years had passed since Chihiro had gone to the Spirit Realm. Eight years come and gone like a blink of an eye. Things were different now. She had grown to be a pretty young woman. She had graduated high school as well. She was also looking to getting into university. The young woman didn't remember a thing when it came to the Spirit Realm. Save for a promise she made to a boy. Did she remember the boy at all? No. She wished she could though.

Her parents were on a long holiday and thus weren't in the house. Her father had a lot of vacation time to use up before going back to the daily grind of his job. So it was just her there at the house. She had been out of the home for a few hours, picking up things like food and other necessities that were either out or nearly out throughout the first week of being home alone. So when things started happening around the house it was just Chihiro. Chihiro didn't believe in ghosts or hauntings. That was mostly folklore and things to tell children to scare them into sleeping in their rooms or something outlandish like getting them to eat their vegetables.

But all too soon things weren't in their places. Pots and pans were thrown around in the kitchen or broken glass was just randomly on the floor like someone had forgotten to clean it up. And this was all during the day when she was home before work. Night was something else entirely. She felt like a child doing this but didn't have much of a choice: she slept with a light on. It didn't help. Things moved then too. Something akin to demonic voices kept her up at night. She would wake up with bruises on her or scratches down her back or on her stomach. She was hardly getting any sleep.

Going to work wasn't much better either. The weird things followed her there too. People's personal belongings were thrown at her from out of nowhere. She even had a stapler chucked at her. She ended up being excused from work. Her boss didn't want anyone to die or get harmed by the odd things that were happening. He seemed to be a superstitious man. When random things weren't being thrown, broken, ran up and down on (floors, the stairs, on the roof) or disturbed in other ways an eerie disembodied voice would laugh or growl at her. It sent chills up and down her spine. This went on for almost two weeks. The mind games, the injuries and the lack of sleep were making her paranoid.

Finally Chihiro could not take it anymore. She ran out of the house, only the shoes and clothes she wore as her only possessions. She ran down the sloop of the hill her house was on and into the wooded area that she remembered coming in and out of when she was ten years old. Still the mind games didn't stop. Rocks, sticks, large branches were either thrown at her or pushed in her way. Hallucinations were forced into her head. She screamed running passed a stone statue and then over a small brook. The sunlight flitted through the trees as she ran.

She didn't even skid to a stop when she reached the identical stone statue she had passed a while back. She knew where she was: it was an entrance to the beginnings of an abandoned theme park built in the early 90s. She remembered her father talking about it when they went in the first time before going through it a second time to come out the other end to find dust had settled on her dad's car. She ran through the tunnel and passed the benches of a waiting room into a field of grass.

As she had done so, she felt the presence of whatever it was that had been playing with her for almost two weeks now being pulled away from her or off of her. Panting, still not sure if she was completely alone or not, Chihiro ran over some stones and up some steps. She stopped when she looked at the food stands. Apparently this abandoned theme park was still in busy. Though, something at very back of her mind told her not to get any closer to the stalls. Instead she ran to a bridge and collapsed there now completely spent and out of breath. Her eyes closed as she fought to get air into her lungs. Off in the distance (okay maybe not that distant after all) that loud eerie laugh came again sending chills up and down Chihiro's spine.

"It's just a bad dream," she croaked her voice coming out weak.

"I'm alone. Completely alone. No one's out to get me." she muttered.

Opening her eyes she looked down to see a train zoom by far below the bridge she was sitting on.

"There's a train." she muttered.

Still she was too weak to go over to the other side of the bridge. She did get up though and used the railing as a support for her until her legs stopped shaking and her breathing returned to normal.


	2. Chapter 2

I know the last chapter was short. But it did set the mood for everything else.

Remember I do not own Spirited Away or its characters. If I did there would have been an EPILOGUE OR A SEQUEL. All rights reserved for Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki. I just own the plot of the fanfic.

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Chapter Two: Meeting Again

Haku had decided to go out for a bit of a jaunt. He was no longer tied to the bathhouse or Yubaba in the same way he had been eight years ago. It was all thanks to Chihiro. Not only had the ten year old girl saved his life but she had also restored his name and his memories along with it. Nigihayami Kohakunushi was his full name. It meant The God of the Swift Amber River. However he was unable to go home as his river had been moved underground by humans some time ago to make way for dwellings that humans could live in. He probably would never leave the bathhouse for as long as he existed.

Still his thoughts more often than not would revolve around Chihiro. She was the first thing he thought of when awakening from his slumber and last thing he thought about before drifting to sleep. He would wonder how was fairing in the human world. He loved her. That much was certain. Zeniba's words from eight years ago flitted across his mind, _Ah, that's love for you_. Love… Even Kamaji had told him that Chihiro's love had saved him from Yubaba's sister as her curse ravaged his body and slowly killed him from the inside out. And from the look of things she had loved him too.

But he knew that humans couldn't live here in the Spirit World. It was far too dangerous. Especially considering how many spirits hated humans. Yubaba disliked humans but she was not a spirit that held domain over land or water. She was bound by nothing like Haku had been and how many others were still. And so while he had wished for her to stay by him the young dragon boy had let his little human go. He let her go back to the world she had been born in, to live the life she had been promised from day one. While they had promised to meet each other once more, Haku highly doubted it would be while she was still alive.

These thoughts consumed him as he walked to the bridge that connected the bathhouse to the food stalls. He stopped short barely concealed amazement within his dark jade green eyes. There was a young woman standing on the bridge almost reminiscent of his and Chihiro's first meeting. His mind drifted back to that fateful day. She too had been looking down at the train as it flew by below the bridge. He stepped closer to her needing a better look as the sunlight slowly started to fade away as night approached.

Breath caught in his throat. He knew that high ponytail anywhere. He watched as she turned around startled by something. Those eyes, he knew those brown eyes as well. They were Chihiro's! He studied her quickly. The rosy cheeks she had as a child faded away as she matured into adulthood. She was taller than she had been eight years ago. Nowhere near his six feet two inches of course. She had filled out as all human women did. She grew into her skin, into her own person. He was happy that she was alive and well.

"Chihiro?" he asked quietly. "How are you — Is it really — what are you doing here?"

The questions seemed to tumble from his lips as he looked at her still unsure that she was not some sort of apparition, here one moment and gone the next. If he reached out and touched her arm… would his hand go right through her? Or would it simply land on her skin?

Chihiro straightened up having now regained use of her legs and lungs. So far nothing seemed out of the ordinary. That eerie voice had gone for now. As if it had intentionally scared her to death to get her to come here. Though, she was wondering why now at this point. She noticed however, the sun's rays were slowly sinking lower and lower. The day coming to an end and soon night would fall. Dusk was upon her now. It was best she get home. She was starting to get hungry. All that running had wore her out and depleted her energy. But then she remembered what she went through and thought better of it.

She turned around at the sound of her name. She saw a young man taller than her five feet four inches with dark jade green eyes and short black hair that shone green in the dying light staring at her in amazement. She could not put her finger on it but something about him seemed familiar. Like she had met him once before. She was having the oddest sense of dévà vu and it wouldn't go away.

She took a step away from the bridge's railing. Though, a hand still clung to the wood for support in case she needed it. She decided it was best to answer his question before posing her own. Perhaps if she answered his question, he would answer hers. Logically it was only fair to do so. Though it didn't mean he had to answer her question or questions. She would like it though if he did. That way she could get a sense of where she was at.

"Through the fake amusement park entrance at the back of the forest near my house," came her answer.

She licked her lips shifting through the million and one questions she had for him. She looked behind him and saw an enormous bathhouse. Something about it seemed familiar as well. It wasn't just the young man before her, she thought. This entire place had started to seem familiar to her even though she swore that she had never been there before until now. Finally she settled on one question. It would be easier for this young man to answer her one question rather than a million other questions thrown at him.

"Where are we?" she asked him. "I can see that is a bathhouse behind you. But all of this doesn't seem part of the forest I was originally running through," she clarified for him.

Scared out of her wits running from some unknown force or whatever it was that had chased her out of her own house Chihiro was now standing in an unknown place. She should be scared. But after what she had gone through to get to this place, fear was anything but what she was feeling at the moment. Tired eyes watched the young man before.


	3. Chapter 3

Remember I do not own Spirited Away or its characters. If I did there would have been an EPILOGUE OR A SEQUEL. All rights reserved for Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki. I just own the plot of the fanfic.

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Chapter Three: To the bathhouse

Haku's eyes narrowed slightly. Something was terribly wrong. Why would Chihiro ask where they were at? Didn't she recognize this place? Or him for that matter? He felt as if he had been punched in the stomach at the realization that Chihiro had no clue where she was at. The river spirit licked his lips but kept up his calm and collected façade even when he was anything but calm or collected at this moment.

"This is the Spirit World, Chihiro," he told her calmly. Maybe she just needed to jog her memories, he thought. "Do you recognize me at all?" he asked her. He waited patiently for her to respond. Though, a voice in the back of his head told him that he shouldn't be shocked at all by this (he was however shocked nonetheless). The fear that she did not recognize him cut him like a dull knife.

He had known that Chihiro would more than likely lose her memories of this place, of him, of everything they had gone through together when she crossed over from this world back into her own. It was just how the way things were. Humans were not supposed to remember their time here in the Spirit World until they became shades and returned here once they parted with life.

But still a part of him had hoped beyond anything that the ten year old human girl would remember her time here that he wouldn't be just a whisper of a ghost in the back of her mind. Though, it seemed that this hope had been dashed to pieces. _Of course_ , he thought sourly, _why would anything go my way?_ This was one time where he had wished that he had his river to return to. He could come and go into the human world as he pleased. He could have returned to Chihiro in her world and their promise would have been kept a hundred times over. But this was downright cruel to them both. Their first meeting in eight years and she didn't remember a thing (possibly he thought. She could easily remember if her memories were jogged a bit).

Haku took a breath eyeing the dying light. She had to return to her world, now, before it was too late.

"It's been good to see you Chihiro. However, I'm afraid you can't stay. You have to get across the river now," he said urging her to go back.

This time though he did not push her to leave as he had done eight years previously.

Chihiro watched him as the fading light brought shadows to his face where there were none before. She couldn't read him. He was like a puzzle. A Rubik's Cube to be exact. And like her attempts at solving one, this young man wouldn't be so easily cracked. It was that type of gut feeling she was getting. He displayed no emotion for her to grasp onto. He was friendly and kind, she'd give him that. But beyond those two things it was like looking into a dark abyss.

"I don't," she admitted. "But I keep getting a strange feeling that I should. Call it dévà vu if you like."

This feeling told her that she also somehow, in some way, knew this young man. He knew her especially her name. And she hadn't even told him what it was. So if he knew her and her name then it meant that at some point she had come across this man once before. Her eyebrows rose at his answer to her question. The Spirit World? Wasn't that just Japanese Folklore?

She watched his face as closely as she could. She was watching for any sign of emotion. Anything at all for her to pick up on… she got nothing. It was like looking at a marble statue. At the insistence that she return home, Chihiro stiffened and an obvious chill ran down her spine. It was like having an ice cube thrown down the back of her shirt. She licked her lips which ended with her biting her lower lip nervously.

Two weeks of no sleep. She was on the verge of collapsing as it was. Whatever had chased her here to the Spirit Realm had done so for a reason. She was not going back to that. She couldn't. She probably die from lack of sleep or accidentally walking on broken glass, with no shoes or socks on, that hadn't been on the floor until she walked into the room.

"I don't think that's a good idea," she told him softly.

She mused about how to go about this without setting him off (was that even possible?). Finally her shoulders sagged in a way that would tell him more about how she was feeling that what she could put into words.

"I was chased here. By some unknown force I think it was. If I go back…" she trailed off.

She'd let him imagine what would possibly happen. Chihiro didn't want to think about it. She refused to.

"You want me to start from the beginning don't you?" she asked him.

She felt like he was going to want her to explain what she meant by being chased. What she really wanted now that she thought about it was a nap. And food. Just enough to get her energy levels back to normal and get her functioning again like she should be. That wasn't too much to ask for right? It would be easier for them both if she did. But she could understand if he asked her to wait on that a little while longer.

Haku swore that his heart stopped beating for a moment. She was refusing to leave. But that wasn't why his heart had stopped. She had been _chased_ here. By what, he didn't know. But he intended to find out. That and the image of her bloody, lifeless body on a floor or in the forest scared him far more than Yubaba ever had. He could tell she was exhausted but he needed answers. It was the only way to ensure that she would be safe.

"Yes," he murmured softly. "I need to know everything that happened to you Chihiro. Did you see anything? Or hear a voice?" he asked. He knew he was putting pressure on her to remember. But he needed to know. He would protect this woman, his Chihiro as if his life depended on it (it did).

"Not here. We'll have to start moving soon though. They can't find out that you're here."

It would be like the first time all over again if they didn't. Though he, Kamaji, Boh and Lin (and Yubaba unfortunately which also meant that Zeniba had too. And that was far better than Yubaba he had to admit) had all retained their memories of little Sen during her time here at the bathhouse. He wouldn't be surprised if no one else had. A little human girl wouldn't be recalled easily by the staff. They would have pushed those few months into the deepest, darkest parts of their minds.

Haku held out his hand for her to take. "It's alright," he told her giving her a very small smile; "you can trust me. We need to go now."

Chihiro gave the young man a smile. Tired and small but still a smile nonetheless. She walked over to him, the last few feet that had separated them, and placed her hand in his. She knew she wasn't as good as guarding her emotions as this man but she was able to suppress a small chill that ran down her spine from the contact. His skin was warm so it wasn't from his skin being cooler than hers (it was but it still gave off warmth to a degree). It was the fact that their hands seemed to fit perfectly into the other that had caused the chill she was bent on suppressing.

"If that's the case, then let's go. I'll fill you in on the details." she murmured softly.

She looked up at him and wanted to ask why she couldn't be seen. But then she remembered that he had said this was the world of Spirits. Humans and spirits could not co-exist on the same plane of existence. She'd just have to take his word for it. She could do little else but that. She found that she could trust him, quite easily for some reason. She was far more relaxed next to him than she was mere moments ago.

"I trust you," she told him. "I don't know how, but I feel that I can."

Haku gave an inward smile at that. Her memories were gone yes, but it seemed she was getting faint impressions of feelings like residual echoes from their last time together. He focused back on Chihiro trying to ignore the fuzzy warm feeling he got as he held her hand, moving to go the long roundabout way of getting into the bathhouse.

"There was nothing tangible as you and I at least from what I could or couldn't see at the time. But there was a voice. It would growl at me menacingly or give this loud high-pitched eerie laugh that made you just want to shudder in fear." she whispered.

Wherever he was taking her, perhaps they could sit down and talk this out, come up with some sort of plan. For what she didn't know. But all she knew was that she didn't want to go home. She would dig her heels into the ground before she went back home.

"It all started about two weeks ago. My parents are on a much deserved holiday and I was watching over the house until they got back." she explained.

She took a breath and blew it out trying to keep her nerves settled as she recalled the events that led her here.

"Things started to move by themselves or break. I think whatever it is, was trying to get my attention. But then it started getting worse. I couldn't go to work because it followed me there and it would hurt my co-workers or me. I kept the lights on in my room to try and gain some form of comfort out of that. That didn't work because it would just mess with my head even moreso with the lights on."

She placed a hand on her back where there were long scratch marks on her. And not from the branches or sticks that were thrown at her either. Like long finger nails that were sharp enough to draw blood.

"It got to the point where it physically harm me enough to leave evidence like it had decided that scaring me and playing mind games with me wasn't enough anymore. I had had enough and started running down the slope behind my house once I got outside."

Chihiro remembered she had hit the ground running once on a horizontal surface.

"I ran all the way here. And I didn't stop until I got to the bridge. That thing was following me the whole way as well. When I got to this side… I felt a presence being pulled off me. Or what felt like something being pulled off. The last thing I heard before you came was that laugh and it sounded gleeful."

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up at the memory. After that she was silent. She didn't want disturb him as he mulled over her story. She didn't want to see the look in his eyes. Now she was thinking about it… could the presence have been a spirit?


	4. Chapter 4

Remember I do not own Spirited Away or its characters. If I did there would have been an EPILOGUE OR A SEQUEL. All rights reserved for Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki. I just own the plot of the fanfic.

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Chapter Four: On the way

Haku frowned while an inner fury overtook him. On the outside he was ever calm, ever collected. But on the inside… on the inside the dragon within him roared to life. It was angry that this spirit (and he was sure it was one) had dared disturb Chihiro's peaceful life. It was a malicious spirit that had attached itself to her he mused. It had caused her pain. Not just physical pain but mental and emotional pain as well.

He was an observant person. He hadn't missed it when Chihiro had placed a hand on her back. This spirit would pay dearly for harming her. He vowed that when he found the spirit (it was not a matter of if he would find it but when because he would turn over everything in his search for this spirit) he would personally see to it that it would wish it had never existed in the first place.

Their footsteps led them through back ways and alleys as the lamps and bathhouse itself came to life. The spirits that would come here would arrive by boat down at the river. And they didn't need the added pressure of the large crowd on the bridge. He calculated that they only had a fifteen to twenty minute window to get to the back gate before the yuna and the other workers on greeting duty came out.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence he spoke up.

"I'm sorry Chihiro. That must have been quite the ordeal," he said coolly and calmly enough.

He surprised that he managed to keep the anger out of his voice. It was easy to do of course but with his sanity so close to snapping as it was due to everything that Chihiro described just now he hadn't been sure whether or not he could keep calm and help Chihiro keep calm as well. Because she didn't need him angry right now. He wouldn't be able to properly protect her if he was angry. And that was something he had to do no matter what. He had to protect Chihiro.

"It seems that your return here was based solely on instinct." Haku muttered trying to think through everything. And if that was the case then that meant her memories weren't completely unattainable. That gave him some peace of mind at least. For the moment anyway.

"Chihiro, I need you to promise me that if you go anywhere within this world or even if it's just around the bathhouse, you are to let me know and allow me to come along. Promise me this."

Haku needed to hear her say she would promise him. The hum of 'protect her' pulsed through him. And he would of course. But this way he'd know where she was at and if she needed help of any sort he would be there for her. Especially if this evil spirit was still after her. And he felt that it still was.

The silence between them after she had finished her tale seemed to stretch on for some time. Long enough to wonder if she was in fact alone at her house and this was all a dream. But she knew this was reality. The soft footsteps of their feet on the pavement and the gigantic bathhouse that loomed just overhead was a testament to that. She watched him from the corner of her eye. She couldn't tell if he was going over the story in his head or not. The blank look on his face gave nothing away.

The sound of his soft voice suddenly jolted her out of her own thoughts. She licked her lips for a moment keeping her eyes straight ahead. It wouldn't do for her to find herself flat on her face because she didn't watch where she was going or to take him down with her.

"You could be right about that." she told him, her voice just as soft.

Who knew? She sure didn't. But she did have one thing she could remember clearly. And that was from eight years ago.

Did she dare tell him about the one thing that was basically engraved into her mind? Did she dare tell him about the promise? Maybe it would help her in the long run if she did.

"I do recall one thing from eight years ago. A promise to a boy. We promised to meet again someday."

She had mulled over that one promise trying to figure out where it had come from for years now. If she tried to think about it even more Chihiro was sure she'd end up with a headache.

She felt a faint smile grace her lips.

"Thank you. About what you said earlier. It was an ordeal. One I wish not to repeat. So I promise you to do just that. I don't think it would be in anyone's best interest if I tried to deal with that thing on my own. Who knows what might happen if I did."

The ten year old girl who was reckless and got herself into danger nearly all time (though she did not remember it now of course) had matured into a more cautious woman. She was still reckless and this place she was in was more than likely dangerous, but she could take things a little more cautiously now instead of running into things headfirst.

Despite his aloof appearance Chihiro could honestly say that all he wanted to do was help her. He hadn't given her reason to doubt him. She needed help and he was willing to give it to her. He was kinder than most humans. If she had asked for help from another human then she knew that they would want something out of it. So far he hadn't asked her for anything other than her being close to him in case of danger. That she could do. That was an easy request she could comply with.

This silence she found herself now that she didn't know what else to talk about seemed chafe at her nerves. She ended up worrying her bottom lip with her teeth in an attempt to calm her nerves. Unlike the silence from before, this one seemed to press against her in an attempt to keep her quiet. Or perhaps she was just still on an adrenaline rush. She couldn't blame herself if she were. Fear and running were all natural reactions to something unknown, frightening and possibly deadly. She had reacted quickly thanks to her fight-or-flight response. She didn't know anyone who wouldn't have done the same thing in her situation. So still on an adrenaline high (and coming down from it slowly) was nothing to get worked up over.

Her return to the Spirit World was more likely instinct than anything. Just like he said. And if it was then her instincts had told her she would be safer here than in her own house. How interesting, she mused.

Haku all but stopped in his tracks his breathing shallow at best. His facial features showed no emotion but his eyes… his eyes on the other hand held a twinkling gleam in them. His heart even stopped for a second before starting up again at double the pace. Chihiro's talk of a certain promise had him immediately going back to the day they had made it.

" _Where are my mom and dad?"_

" _When you passed the test they woke up on the human side of the river. They're there now and they're looking for you."_

 _Chihiro and Haku ran to the river. He could see how happy she was to be going home with her parents. It crushed him a little bit to know that but he knew she didn't belong here with him. At least not yet anyway. He could never ask her to stay with him. She was only ten years old. She still had a lot of things she needed to do._

 _They stopped at the steps._

" _There's no water here. I can walk across now."_

" _But I can't go any farther. Just go back the way you came. You'll be fine. But you have to promise not to look back. Not until you've passed through the tunnel."_

" _What about you? What'll you do?"_

" _Don't worry I'll go back and have a talk with Yubaba. I'll to tell her I'm going to quit being her apprentice. I'm fine I got my name back."_

" _Will we meet again sometime?"_

" _Sure we will."_

" _Promise?"_

" _Promise. Now go and don't look back."_

 _Haku maneuvered Chihiro's hand to lead her down the steps. She went down them by herself and as she went down their hands which had been tightly clasped together as they ran loosened until he felt her hand slide from his. After a moment he let his hand fall to his side as he watched the little girl whom he had saved so many years ago and who had in return not only saved his life but had given his name and memories back disappear into the long grasses. Then when he was sure that he could no longer see her, he walked back to the bathhouse silently crying._

She remembered that promise. All of those years ago. He swallowed hard unsure if looking at her now would be a good idea or not. He could feel her next to him. He feared that she'd disappear and he would be alone again if he did simply just look at her. Those words ' _We promised to meet again someday,_ ' banged around in his head disrupting anymore thoughts that he may have had. He didn't want to just look at her. He wanted to reach out and touch her to make sure that she was truly there.

The air in his lungs seemed to rattle within him. Still he took as much air as he could possibly fill into his lungs. He pushed it out slowly in a settling breath. She had surprised him with her words. Now he knew her memories weren't locked away forever out of reach. Not if she remembered that! For promises and oaths were not to be taken lightly when made between spirits or even other beings. Magic as ancient as the universe itself bound them to their oaths. He finally turned his head to look at his companion.

"Chihiro… about that promise. You see, I'm that boy." Haku told her quietly. "You may not remember just yet but this is not our first meeting." In fact this was their third. The first time had been when he had saved her life when she had fallen into the Kohaku River at a very young age. He had stayed with her in his human form until her parents had found her. And then once again eight years ago.

As happy as he was to know that she remembered their promise they needed to keep moving. Night was especially bad for humans. Yubaba would be awake soon. And that witch would bring disaster onto them if they were caught.

"We need to keep moving."

His words were soft and commanding all at once as he ignored what seemed to be a raven or crow cawing in the night.

"I'll explain everything to you later if you would so like. But right now is not a good time." he told her quietly.

Chihiro felt more than saw him stop in his tracks as her words washed over to him. And because of such she stopped too. She turned her body to face him giving him her undivided attention. Once again she was unable to read him due to his face being a complete blank; free of emotion. She saw the glint in his eyes though she didn't know how to take that glint. Since he wasn't saying anything she figured that what she had revealed to him had been a mistake. She should have waited to tell him but she didn't know what would happen once inside the bathhouse going to see this person who could help them with this strange situation.

This type of promise she spoke of had intertwined their fates in one form or another binding them together. She knew nothing of such ancient and powerful magic and had figured that the promise stuck with her over the years was because it had been important to her in some way. She had tried to unravel the promise many times thinking that if the promise had been so important to her, then the person she had made the promise to must have been as well. But over the years the promise refused to unravel its secrets if any. It was always on her mind even when she was at work in the human world and her mind had to contend with a thousand other things at the same time.

When he turned to face her properly it felt like he had reached some sort of conclusion. She would never know of course since he never openly displayed any of his emotions. Reading him was impossible, she thought. He could probably read every emotion that she displayed quite easily. While he was skilled at the concealment of his emotions Chihiro was never that lucky. His words stopped her thoughts in their tracks. Her warm brown and yet tired eyes widened. Her mouth opened slightly at this revelation.

Surprise etched itself onto her features. He was the boy… the boy whom she couldn't remember for the life of her was now standing in front of her. Older that what she assumed he had been when they had made that promise. A small smile twitched onto her lips.

"I see. One mystery solved then." she murmured mostly to herself.

"I've been trying to figure out who the other person was for the longest time. If the promise was important than the other party had to be just as important."

The tone of voice indicated that she was pleasantly surprised about this. As well as relieved. They had made the promise when she was a child. So it would make sense that they had met before.

The time that seemed to have stopped when she told him about the only thing she remembered now seemed to have sped up double time. The urgency of their situation had her shifting her weight. She must not be caught. Must not be seen.

Spirits and humans couldn't co-exist. So it wouldn't surprise her that most spirits detested humans. The thought of being in that type of danger had her on edge.

"When we have more time for longer tales," she agreed softly.

She moved quickly once her companion began to spearhead his way to the bathhouse. He was like the wind. She moved even faster when he motioned for her to move along with him. She may not remember this place or of the witch who ruled the bathhouse but that didn't mean said witch had forgotten about her. Her heart pounded in her chest in fear and anxiety. It was a different type of fear that took hold of her than the type of fear that gripped her earlier in the day. This fear she could not explain. Nor could she explain the anxiety that she felt either. But the air around them was tense.

They had to move quickly as to not be caught. What sounded like a crow sounded off had Chihiro stiffening and the hairs on the back of her neck stand straight up as she bit her lip. That sound had her mind running a million miles an hour in different scenarios of the worst case. She forced herself to keep walking, forced the fear and anxiety down as well.


	5. Chapter 5

Remember I do not own Spirited Away or its characters. If I did there would have been an EPILOGUE OR A SEQUEL. All rights reserved for Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki. I just own the plot of the fanfic.

Also sorry for the lateness of the chapter. Work got in the way and then when I wanted to work on it I was just bleh and didn't wanted to write so yeah. But here it is! I hope you like it.

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Chapter Five: The Boiler Room

Haku led Chihiro behind of some of the restaurants as night became increasingly closer. The sun seemed to dip deeper and deeper behind the horizon until not even the last of the sun's rays could be seen. Then the deep dark blue of the sky turned inky black as night finally came upon them. He stopped walking and pushed Chihiro against one of the buildings as he sensed something.

"Don't move!" he breathed, moving his body to make Chihiro as small as possible and unnoticeable as possible.

His eyes moved to the sky and thanks to the lights of the bathhouse and the restaurants he could easily see a lone figure soared through the night sky. It wasn't Yu-Bird, basically Yubaba's eyes in bird form, no it was Yubaba herself. It was Yubaba in her bird form. She was searching for the human that was now trespassing in this part of the spirit world.

It didn't help them at all since Yubaba's magic became increasingly stronger as night began to fall and once it hit her powers were at their peak. He watched as Yubaba circled around trying to look for them. Chihiro's breathing was ragged and shallow. He felt bad that she was in this situation that paralleled the last time she was here. The parallels to this were staggering.

He watched as Yubaba circled around and around before finally flying off in the direction of her penthouse apartments at the top of the bathhouse. Haku relaxed a bit and let go of a breath he hadn't even known he was holding until that very moment. This was stressful. This was stressful than the last time because he knew if she didn't get her memories back soon, this would be just like when she was ten. And he knew the outcome to that. She'd be forced to work in the bathhouse under Yubaba's thumb. And he in turn wouldn't be able to help her as much as he would like. The bathhouse workers still feared him even hated him still even after his contract with Yubaba as her apprentice ended the same day Chihiro had left. That was because even though he didn't work for Yubaba in the same way anymore he was still second in command, still in charge of them and could easily send them to Yubaba.

Haku moved away from Chihiro allowing her to move again.

"You can't stay out in the open for long. We've got to get you to the bathhouse and to the boiler room," he told her.

After sensing to see if any spirits where around (by sensing for ki or the life force of the being) if the coast was clear, the dragon boy took Chihiro's hand once more.

"Let's GO!" he shouted before running with her at top speed to the gardens and back to the bridge.

Chihiro didn't remember all of the danger that went on in the spirit world. As much as humans caused danger for each other, spirits probably could do a lot worse than their human counterparts. This was **their** world. They held power here. Be it great or small. And if provoked or angered no matter the amount the spirit in question could easily harm a human being.

When he said to not move she froze as if she had been turned into marble. She didn't say a word however her breathing patterns were ragged and uneven as fear worked its way through her. What if they were caught? What would happen to this man? The punishment for safeguarding a human had to be cruel. Her eyes followed a large bird in the sky. Her brown eyes widened. What in the Hell was that thing?! It was huge and from what she could faintly see, there seemed to be hair on this bird's head; pulled into a tight bun near the top.

She watched for what seemed like an eternity as the bird flew around. It seemed that it didn't have a particular destination in mind. No it seemed to be searching for something. Or someone. If they were caught now it wouldn't bode well. Once the bird passed overhead unable to find its prey (they weren't prey but it sure felt like it) Chihiro relaxed. She was greatly shaken. Tremors cascaded up and down her body. Mostly from the fear that had paralyzed her but it also from standing there as stiff as a board for who knew how long.

She took his hand tightly in hers. She didn't want to lose him or end up falling and letting go. That would bring disaster to their plan on getting to the boiler room. As soon as he cried out to go they ran. She ran as fast as she could. It was easy to imagine the hounds of some type of hell were after them. And that made her push passed her limits even faster. The faster they went the faster they could get to where they needed to go. She sent up a silent prayer that everything worked out to their advantage.

They ran passed the buildings, through a meat locker, through the pig pen and into the gardens. This would take them back to the bridge. It was unnecessary he had to admit. They had started out on the bridge and now they were back here again. Bu it had been necessary to do get anyone following them off their backs quickly. And of course he knew that no one had from the get go. It had been merely safer to do since Yubaba tended to track things better at night. Had they remained at the bathhouse from the start, sidestepping everything they had just done in the process, which would have been easier but far more dangerous. He wasn't going to take that chance. He could not risk Chihiro's safety. He would not risk it.

"Until we get to the boiler room stay close to me Chihiro. Alright?" he asked her.

Haku let go of her hand and looked at her. A hand clenched at his side. She looked horrible. He could see how tired she was, how utterly stressed out she was, not to mention how frightened she must have been feeling. He felt like he had failed her. Had failed to protect the person closest to his heart. He wondered briefly how his past self would react looking at his future self, failing to protect this woman. Would his younger self hate him for such an outright failure? He didn't know. He just knew that he was guilty of letting it happen.

He had sacrificed so much to keep her safe when she had been younger. He had sacrificed his own happiness for hers. She had been and would always be the most important thing to him. For all of their efforts eight years ago, this was cruel. To send her back to him without any memories and forced to repeat this again was the cruelest thing Haku could think of.

"Come," he told her gently. "Once we're in the boiler room you can rest."

He walked quickly with her to the entrance to the side of the bathhouse where they had hid for a few moments the last time she had been here. He opened the door for her and watched as she had to crawl in. There was no one out there at the moment. That was good. That meant they were still inside getting ready. Their guests would be coming any minute now. And they had to act quickly. The last time she had been here she had gone to the boiler room alone. He had been unable to help her completely that night. He had only been able to give her images of where to go. This time he could afford to help her get all the way there and talk with Kamaji about what to do next before returning to the upper floors of the bathhouse to oversee everything and made sure that things ran smoothly. He followed after her.

"Believe it or not, when you first came here you made it to the boiler room alone." Haku told her with a sort of dry humor to his voice.

He would use this small reprieve to give Chihiro a chance to catch her breath.

Every building they ran passed was a blur of orange, red and black. There was no definite shape to anything that was how fast they were running. The only shapes she could make out were herself and her companion. Her breathing was ragged and her lungs burned demanding the proper air intake they needed to function. Not to mention her legs were beginning to feel like hot rubber. The more they moved along the twisting and winding cobbled streets and side streets the closer they were to the bathhouse.

Eventually they made it to the side gate that would probably lead them to the side of the bathhouse. Their sprint slowly came to a halt and once her companion let her hand go Chihiro bent over, hands on her legs, breathing hard. She felt like she had just ran a marathon without any training and now she was paying for it. And she had thought the sprint from her world to this one had been bad. Her head swam as the much needed oxygen she was taking in gave her a head rush. Not to mention that her heart was beating out of her chest. But slowly her legs stopped shaking and burning as did her lungs. She straightened up now ready for the next leg of their journey to the boiler room.

"I will." she said quietly. She wasn't about to get lost in this place. No matter if she had been here in the past her memories had faded away and thus this was all new to her once more. Save for the weird feelings of dévà vu she kept getting. She smiled at him then pushing down her own exhaustion once more.

"It's fine. Don't worry about me at the moment. We've got bigger things to concern ourselves with."

No matter how exhausted she was she wasn't going to be a burden to him by slowly them down. They were safe from that bird thing for now. Though she didn't know how long it would be until the alarm was raised that there was a human there. If that thing that had been searching for them sounded the alarm before they could get to the boiler room then they were going to be in some major trouble.

If she had her memories of eight years ago then she'd remember that they had been in a situation similar to this one (aside from no one knowing that she was here this time). If she could recall those memories then she'd realize that just beyond the other side of this little area was a gate and going through that gate would lead to a long, winding wooden staircase. That staircase would lead to the boiler room.

"Alone? Somehow, I can believe it," she told him after taking a moment to process what he had just told her.

"Though, I probably didn't get there unscathed. I'm a bit of a klutz so while I can imagine that I got there by myself I probably had a bruise or something to go along with it."

Not having her memories gave her bit of a handicap. Things that should have been familiar to her weren't. Bits of information like what he had just given her sounded strange to her. But she could picture getting down to the boiler room by herself. How she got there on the other hand was another thing entirely.

"You're going to have to tell how I managed that one. Though not right now since time isn't exactly on our side."

They had more pressing matters to tend to and the tale of how she got down to the boiler room would just slow them down until they got there.

"Before we move on… How exactly are we going to get to the boiler room? Going through the bathhouse would be dangerous wouldn't it?" she inquired.

That was the last thing they needed: more danger. But they weren't out of the woods yet. They were now in the thick of it and the only way to secure their safety was going to the boiler room. One way or another.

Haku frowned a little bit. The way she spoke of her previous visit to the Spirit World was humbling. He knew all too well how self-deprecation worked. He had to deal with it every day despite the collected, cold and calm exterior he put forth. He saw no reason for her to feel the same way as he did. After all she had done a lot in her short time here. Even if she couldn't remember right then and there, he hoped that she would and could properly appreciate everything that she had done and not just for him. But for Zeniba, Boh, Lin, Kamaji, No-Face and everyone else that she had helped or saved in one way or another. She also was very brave. He knew she was. She just needed to allow herself the confidence to use it.

"You could say that… I recall that your nose wasn't in the best shape after you made it down the stairs."

Haku placed a hand on her shoulder. This was a team effort now. He couldn't be allowed to brood on negative thoughts or emotions. He couldn't help Chihiro if he did. And any hindrance would dampen their efforts to reach their destination safely. And it would put her in danger again. And that was something he could no allow. He could worry about everything else later.

"Don't worry, Chihiro. You won't have to go through this alone. Not this time anyway. I'll be at your side." he added softly.

He paused for a moment. She was right. Going through the bathhouse right now wouldn't be the safest bet. It was far too crowded with the influx of all the workers (both old and new) getting everything ready for their guests' arrival. There would be a lot of spirits and Gods coming tonight. More so than usual. And he didn't know how well his magic would hold up against that. Cloaking spell or not.

"You're right. It would be too dangerous right now. There's a doorway a little further down. Behind the doorway there's a flight of stairs. We'll be taking those stairs. They're a bit precarious but you'll be just fine as long as you take them slowly." he told her. They'd have to take it slowly or else they'd alert Yubaba. And that was the last thing they needed.

He withheld the urge to sigh. There were so many things he wanted to show her. And tell her. Memories both good and bad that he wanted to relive with her. To him even the bad memories were precious to him. He still couldn't quite tell if this was real or just a really bad dream. That any moment he'd wake up in his room. He wanted to know about her life in the human world. Everything. But that would have to wait for a better time he supposed. Plus if he were really dreaming he'd be able to make it better by giving her memories back or by simply waking up. Though he was awake and he couldn't give her memories back to her. So this was no dream.

"Let's keep moving," he said quietly moving toward the back gate.

You didn't have to tell Chihiro that having her memories back would make things so much easier on the both of them. But she felt that if she started to pick at that mental wall in her head she wouldn't like it if that wall came down all at once. And in the state she was in it would be ten times as worse as if she were there in the Spirit World on a good day. A good day… she made it sound like this place was easy to get to and that anyone could come and visit whenever they felt like it.

She nodded an exasperated look on her face as he told her what she had done. Not at him. No never at him. But it was at her ten year old self that she was exasperated with. A flight of stairs had her injuring herself as soon as she had gotten here.

"That sounds like me, always hurting myself because of how clumsy I am." she sighed.

Though she swore up and down that the universe did half of it just to amuse itself. She smiled at him. "Thank you." she whispered.

A hand fisted at her side. She'd get her memories back. Even if she had to take a mental sledgehammer to that wall and beat it until it came down. She'd deal with the consequences later if that had to happen. Though in all honesty she'd only do that as a last resort. Because those walls were meant to protect her mind from experiencing everything at once.

She would admit though the faint feelings of having done certain things like this before had her wanting to know more about this place, about her companion next to her. Though, with him it seemed like there was something that she should be able to recall (aside from their promise). There was something about him that should have never been pushed through that mental barrier in her head. She began chewing on her bottom lip in silent frustration as she bent her head to let her grown out bangs cover her eyes.

Exhaustion, hunger, stress and fear now mingled with the frustration at her own incapability to remember what she needed to about him. These things weren't going to help them any faster but what she needed was right there. Whatever it was was within reach and it moved out of the way like the tides of the ocean retracting on a beach. Water she realized. He had something to do with water. She looked at him and realized that had the type of calmness about him that a still lake or pond had when not disturbed by anything. Too worried about what would happen to him if they got caught she didn't try to push anymore information from her tired mind. It would come to her when she needed it the most, she mused.

She turned her head toward the direction of the back gate (not the gate they came in through) and swallowed audibly.

"You're telling a klutz to be careful on stairs. Oh this going to end with me in pain. Again."

She was going to assume that it was this first trip into the Spirit World that had her forever wary of stairs. Of course she was also trying to alleviate some tension from them both by making a joke at her own expense no matter how true it might turn out to be.

She took his hand in hers and gave it a light squeeze.

"I know the situation looks rather grim and whatever happened to me eight years ago might happen again. But we've got each other. We can get through this. We made it through the last time, right? Who says we can't do it again? And I agreed to not go anywhere without you."

Chihiro paused for a moment to collect her thoughts before continuing on just as softly as before,

"I came back out of instinct and to get away from that malicious entity. Some part of me knew that this place, as dangerous as it is, is far safer than what I was dealing with for almost two weeks. That same part of me had to have known you wouldn't let anything harm me again."

She let go of his hand and nodded.

"Let's go."

She moved to go to the doorway that would bring them to a long flight of wooden stairs. Exhausted, stressed, frightened, frustrated and hungry she pushed aside everything. She was passed the breaking point. Her body could give any moment. But they needed to reach the boiler room before that happened. She turned her head and looked at Haku.

"You know with how calm you are and how easily you can project that calmness onto someone like me…. you remind me of water on a still day. Nothing to disturb the tranquil peace the still water holds."

Her attempt at alleviate any tension between them was a valiant one. However as valiant as it was it was also futile. Still he let a small rueful smirk play at the corner of his lips. He didn't want to disappoint her not after the effort she put into the jest. He had always been serious, even when he was showing her his softer side. This was no exception to that. Yubaba appearing had put him in a tense state of mind. It reminded him that time was no their friend at the moment. They didn't have nearly as much time as he would have liked. However, having Chihiro next to him calmed him down considerably. She had been through so much tonight and she needed him.

"Don't worry," he assured her. "You'll be just fine. You've accomplished many things here during your last stay, Chihiro, and walking down those stairs was the least of them."

He smiled at her knowing that it was far more genuine than any other smile he would have displayed before that last sentence. It even reached his eyes in the form of a gleam.

"Follow me. And take your time. As long we remain in the shadows and be as quiet as possible we're safe."

Just as he pivoted on his heel and moved towards the back gate, feeling her hand grip his brought his steps to an abrupt halt. He listened to her, not bothering to face her just yet. He was reveling in the fact that their hands were clasped together, their fingers intertwined. The feeling was euphoric. The last time he had felt this he had watched over her one last time as she walked away from him to go back to the human world. How particular, he mused, everything seemed to be coming to a full circle. This was real, her hand in his was proof enough of that, and he didn't know whether or not to be elated or horrified that she had fallen into the same trap she had climbed out of eight years ago. When the time came would he be strong enough from asking her to stay with him?

"Thank you," Haku said quiet and thoughtful as ever.

Only then did he turn to face her. He grabbed Chihiro's hand and cradled it in his own as if it were a fragile flower, something precious, especially to him.

"I'm glad to hear it. Also I won't be the only looking out for you during your time here. There are many other spirits here that owe you their very lives after all that happened here the last time you visited." He explained thinking of the time she had led No-Face through the bathhouse preventing him from swallowing more people.

He found himself reluctant to drop her hand. This wasn't the first time that night that it hit Haku just how long eight years truly were and they had passed between them since last seeing each other. And while he had grown up just as she had though the soft edges of his face, of his 'boyhood' were now replaced by the sharper, angular lines of adulthood and that he was taller, leaner now than he had been back then, he still felt stuck in the same mental limbo that had befallen him when he arrived there after the humans built over his river. The spirit world induced this upon its inhabitants after being here for so long. He wondered just how much of the ten year old girl remained within the eighteen year old. He wondered now how much about her had stayed the same just as he remembered and just how much she had changed in these last eight years.

All the same her small observation piqued his interest. Arching his eyebrows curiously, the dragon boy replied, "Is that right? Well, in that case, I'm glad to have been of help. I must admit part of that comes from knowing exactly what sort of strength you keep within you. Whether or not you can recall it, you saved my life once. I can't help but believe in you after that."

Chihiro looked down, a blush creeping up from her cheeks and down her neck. The compliment he had paid her left her speechless for a moment. But also a warm and fuzzy feeling came bubbling up within her at the same time. She was happy he believed in her even when she had forgotten about him. Finding that inner strength however would take a lot of searching. Her life in the human world hadn't been all sunshine and daisies. It would take a while but she would find it she was sure of it. She just had to adjust to the spirit world again before she did any type of soul searching.

"Thank you," she murmured smiling through her blush.

He was cradling her hand within his own. Like he didn't want to let go of her. She found the reluctance to let go endearing. He knew a side of her that she wanted to remember.

"You're welcome." she murmured.

And she willing to bet her bicycle back home that what she would be experiencing here once more would put a lot of things in prospective and would possibly help not just her companion but herself as well figure out how to get rid of that malicious entity if was still trying to get to her. She just needed to find the courage to do that. And the only way to do that was to retrace her steps and unlock her trapped memories.

Her first venture into this world at the tender age of ten had to have been tough on her. She must have been frightened. More so then now. She was frightened of course but as a child it would have been far different than now since she was older. She had come out on top of whatever mission she had been on because she had returned to the human world. She had grown, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally too. There were still some things would always remain the same with her no matter the age but there other things that were different about her as well. She had always been a curious girl and she was still rather curious to this day. That would never change. And though she didn't know why (rather she didn't remember the exact reason why), she had found anything relating to the Kohaku River fascinating.

"A lot of spirits protectively watching over me hmm? I don't think I deserve such gratitude." came her sheepish reply as she went and got all embarrassed.

He told her that she had saved many people's lives. He was making her sound like some sort of heroine. She had probably done something she shouldn't have and then had to fix the mess she had made. And by that it meant doing something completely reckless with disregard to her own safety. She hadn't done that in a while always taking the more cautious and careful routes in life if she could. She couldn't think on the spot of the last time she had done something so reckless. But she knew that it had almost given her parents heart attacks.

Moving toward the back gate with him she opened it and crawled through the small opening. She stood on a wooden platform and onto the right of the platform were a set of long winding stairs. She gulped nervously as she looked at how many stairs they would need to climb down to get to the boiler room.

"Oh joy," she muttered.

The last time she had been on these stairs she had been ten. She could see herself running down them and then at the bottom she could barely make out a wall. She winced a bit remembering what her companion had told her about her nose.

"A railing would have been nice to have." she sighed.

She had seen that there was no railing on either side. So it was either be careful or she could easily end up dead.

She knew that time was not on their side. A fact that that the little voice inside her head kept telling her.

"Well, here we go again." she squeaked.

Carefully she went down the stairs her legs shaking. She knew that Haku would be right behind her ready to catch her if need be. Her legs were shaking; well actually all of her was shaking not just her legs. She was that scared. But it was the best option she could think of. What if he were in front of her and she tripped or fell? She'd run right into him and then there would be no such thing as quiet. She screamed pretty loudly. If he were behind her he could grab her and keep her steady.

The first time going down these stairs were probably the hardest. Then after that it wouldn't be so bad anymore. Going down them would be a piece of cake afterwards she was sure. But for now they just had to take it slow and easy. Even with time racing against them this was the one thing that they could take slowly. They had to or run the risk of being seen.

"Slow and steady Chihiro. You can do this." she muttered trying to keep herself calm. "You did this before, you can do this again."

If the circumstances surrounding their dire situation were different, Haku would have liked to hold onto this moment a little longer. It had been far too long since they had last seen each other, let alone had the opportunity to hold a proper conversation. He itched to ask her how she had been during these last eight years without the constant, looming threat that Yubaba posed. Though unlikely to admit it out loud, he had imagined their reunion on many different occasions in these past eight years, and none of them could have been farther than the truth.

Haku was reluctant, embarrassed even, to admit that he'd thought about it even that much. Here he was the unshakeable, ageless river spirit — guardian deity to a once prosperous river — as stoic as ever who had confidently promised Chihiro eight years prior that they'd meet again one day, and yet he had been the one sick with grief after her departure. He had been a pillar of strength for her back then because that had been what she needed, someone to guide her from the behind scenes so that she wouldn't be left victim to her own curiosities and devices. And now, here he was finding out that he was struggling to hide the fact that he couldn't even be that same pillar of strength for himself.

 _Ah, that's love for you,_ Zeniba had told them both for what seemed like an eternity ago. He remembered feeling staggered by such a conclusion. But now that he looked back he couldn't help but think if she had a point now. The dedication he had for this girl seemed to stretch far beyond anything he had ever known or felt, for reasons he couldn't explain and that left him bemused for far longer than he had thought possible. From the moment they had met, it had seemed that they were bound to each other, through forces no even he could understand. Could that be why their paths seemed to cross again and again over time? He'd always felt a certain push, a drive if you will, to protect Chihiro but was it possible that his instinctive drive to keep her safe and out of harm's way went far more deeper than what he could imagine? As a precautionary measure he had trained himself to always keep his emotions in check, to keep from feeling things too deeply. Had all those efforts systematically failed?

He pulled himself away from those troubling thoughts deliberately. He could think about those later if need be. But for now he couldn't afford it. They couldn't afford him trapped within his own mind with endless questions.

Instead, Haku offered a small smile murmuring, "If it's any comfort to you, spirits display their gratitude much differently than humans. I highly doubt they'll want to show it to you in person. That would risk a trip to Yubaba's office. However, you'll have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that their protection is always available to you should you have need of it."

He paused for a moment, during which he searched her eyes thoughtfully, as if to gauge her reaction. It was another moment before he added, "And you must remember, as well, that I'm on your side, Chihiro. At times it may… appear otherwise," he cautioned her now, "but please know that it's only in your best interest."

Even now, he could remember (and none too happily either) just how he had to act the last time Chihiro had visited the bathhouse. Though his personality already had the tendency to appear rather aloof and unaffected, those traits had doubly intensified within him thanks to her previous visit. And that was only to keep Yubaba and the others from suspecting that he was the one helping her through her ordeal here. It wouldn't have ended as nicely for him if he had been discovered. Not only that but it would have endangered Chihiro as well. It was no secret that his fellow co-workers still mistrusted him due to his apprenticeship with Yubaba. And the last thing he wanted was to give them one more reason to despise her.

Contract or no contract, the same thing would have to happen again this time around. As much as he loathed the very thought of doing it, there was still an air of suspicion hanging around him. He wouldn't expose Chihiro to that sort of blind hatred. Not if it was in his power to do so.

"Now, follow me."

Without further ado, Haku rose to his feet and at last the two of them headed slowly, steadily down the winding staircase. It was a slow and deliberate process, but it would worth it. When they had reached the bottom of the staircase, the dragon boy skipped over the last three steps and turned around and extending a hand to Chihiro to help her down the last three steps.

"The boiler room is just right through this door. In fact Kamaji probably already knows you're here. His ability to sense magic is almost twice as perceptive as my own."

Their conversation was left one-sided due to time constraints and they both knew it. Perhaps when this night was over and they had time to themselves once more they could finish it and perhaps, she hoped, start more. She'd look forward to that any day. If things weren't so grim at the moment then they'd probably have more time to talk. As of right now she knew they didn't and it disheartened her to think that. They had reunited but couldn't really enjoy it because of their situation at hand. It felt almost bittersweet in a sense.

As a child slowly blossoming into a teenager and then young adult, she would daydream which led her to strongly believe that she had been daydreaming about this place, about him until she could no longer remember. It was the only honest and plausible answer she could find that made sense to her. Unlike her companion next to her who was hard to read, she was not. Even as she looked back into her memories she could see that she had been an open book when it came to what she was thinking and feeling. She could still feel the longing she once had when she looked back into those memories. As much as she wanted to ask him she didn't, knowing that any more delays would impede on their journey down to the belly of the beast.

As they walked silently and slowly down the long staircase, Chihiro bit down on her lip. She was drawn to her companion. For reasons she couldn't recall just yet. She recalled that he had told her she had saved his life the last time they were together eight years prior. But he had never elaborated on exactly how she had done so. Now if they could unlock her memories then she wouldn't need him to elaborate. But that was a conversation for another time. And her current thoughts of her companion and what exactly she felt were left to be examined for later (though the worry she held for him and the trust she easily placed in him without so much as a reason why could easily be because she held something that grew with time with or without her memories and was much more pure and deeper than she realized). The creaks of the wood made her wince jogging her out of her thoughts as it gave and held underneath her weight. _Don't break please!_ she begged silently.

That name he had told her, Yubaba, brought a chill down her spine. She didn't understand why that was. Something told her that it was best not to ask and to not scratch that wall too much with her mind as exhausted as it was. If she had to meet with Yubaba then she could put on the act of pretending to remember if that was what it took to get her whatever she needed out of this new person she was more than likely bound to meet again.

He had even told her in added hush that he was on her side no matter what it might look like. Her stomach rolled at those remembered words. _And you must remember, as well, that I am on your side. At times, it may … appear otherwise but just know that it is only in your best interest._ Her best interest if he seemed different than how he was right now? It was in her best interest to remember what he told her. There might be a reason why he was telling her this. One that she would find out soon enough.

She watched as he skipped the last three steps on the stairs and held out his hand for her to take. She did, gripping it hard to make sure that she didn't fall and let go as she walked down the last few stairs.

"Show off," she murmured a small grin making an appearance on her lips letting him know that she wasn't mad or angry at him at all.

He knew she couldn't do that unless she wanted to be hurting the next day. She mused that while he had done so to help her down the stairs, he had done so with a small flare.

"Kamaji…"

She let the name roll on her tongue surprising herself at how familiar it sounded to her when she had heard it from his lips and then from hers. She added that to the list of names she was going to have to make so that she could start putting names and faces together again.

"Alright, let's go see this Kamaji. Hopefully we can figure out what to do next afterwards." she told him smiling.

They were close to being safe. That really had the relief rushing through her. They were safe. He was safe. Though she didn't think she was going to be safe for long. It was just that type of feeling she was getting. Then again that could be the fatigue talking.

With every step they took it became more and more apparent to Haku that the process of helping Chihiro recover her lost memories of her last visit to this place would be longer than he hoped. He'd known from the get go that it would be gradual and would require a tremendous amount of patience on his part; it wasn't the shock or the surprise that her memories were gone, but that they hadn't even left a trace behind. It was like they hadn't even been there in the first place. Perhaps in the amount of time they had spent away from each other, he'd somehow deluded himself into thinking that she could have held onto those memories. He ought to have known better than to place such an unrealistic expectation on her shoulders.

He supposed that even someone such as himself, who took pride in remaining ever calm, in using his wits to stay one step ahead of his adversaries, would fall victim to even his own buried emotions. And yet, for some reason all of those feelings and emotions seemed that much harder to ignore. Since now they had come face-to-face once more. The wounds he had around his heart when he watched her leave his side for what seemed to be the last time, the very wounds that he thought had finally healed over now bled anew splitting open at the seams. And all of this wasn't just at the sight of Chihiro herself but also from how much he had missed of her life. It was jarring to say the least. This was not the first time he found himself torn between an almost euphoric giddiness and a fury unmatched with himself for wanting her to stay in the first place.

Sometimes, Haku found himself thinking that he more than anything could forget it all as well. He wondered at times whether or not Chihiro was the lucky one, never having to live with agonizing 'what-ifs' or 'what could have been'. At least not in the same way he did. In the seamless moments between sleep and wakefulness with the workings of his own mind as his only company, the dragon boy would stare up at his ceiling at night wishing more than anything that he could silence those old ghosts that continuously haunted him. They did nothing but torture him reminding him that while she'd grown up and lived the life promised to her he had stayed behind and thought over and over again, _**I love you, I love you, I love you —**_

Immediately, Haku pulled himself from those musings. They seemed to sneak up on him when he least expected them to and buzzed around his head like a nest of angry hornets ready to strike at any given moment. He smiled apologetically at Chihiro. He hadn't meant to space out like that. He wrapped his fingers around her hand when she placed hers within his.

"There you go," he sighed, relieved, when she made it down the last three steps without so much as a bruise.

"You see? You made it after all. And you're just fine."

Haku took a moment to look up at the night sky. It felt like someone had punched him in his stomach when the realization took hold that they had lost more time than previously thought. They'd have to hurry now if they wanted to keep from getting caught by one of the other workers. Or by Yubaba herself. That was something he could not let happen.

"Don't worry. The trip is relatively smooth from here on out; no more staircases like that one, at least," and if she were watching him closely she would have seen a momentary flash of humor gleaming in his jade eyes.

Turning his back to her for a moment, Haku moved to open the door that would lead to the boiler room. There were two ways of getting to said room. One was through the bathhouse and the other was this door. The door swung on its hinges with a loud creak before coming to a halt. Even before he set a foot inside the small corridor that lead to the boiler room itself, he could feel the heat of the boiler and the many pipes that worked to keep it running. It was like a gust of dry wind, hot and with no moisture in it to speak of. Like that of a desert. It seemed like they were working Kamaji to the bone — what a mood he was going to be in! The dragon boy could only sigh and step forward turning to beckon Chihiro to come along before continuing on his way.

"Just a little farther now," he said, if only to break the heavy silence that had stirred up between the two of them.

"I should warn you now; Kamaji is going to be rather gruff. He's had quite the long day and I can't see him being too happy with having visitors. Though maybe… he'll make an exception for you."

A crooked half-smile eased itself onto her features as he subtly teased her about her irrational fear of the staircase they just came down. She'd be able to take down just as easily as she had this time. It had grown dark, as dark black ink. It didn't even seem that there were stars out or the moon. Though with the lights of the bathhouse blazing at full strength she probably wouldn't see the stars easily. But with the inky blackness of the night sky came a sense of hurry. They had spent some time going down these stairs. They'd lost quite a bit it actually since they had to take it slowly.

Emotions were not tied exactly to memories. Memories could be used to elicit certain emotions (be them good or bad) but emotions themselves were tied more to the heart. Chihiro, although a human, felt them strongly. She wore her heart on her sleeve. So to have these emotions for Haku, ones that confused her and left her a little shy, had her questioning herself. And those questions seemed to loop on in a continuous circle making her head spin slightly.

She knew that they had met once before. They had promised to meet again. And they had. Their first meeting in eight years. And now it seemed like this was going to be much like her first visit. But there was more to it. There had to be. These emotions of hers hadn't sprung out of nowhere. She had been feeling them since they had crossed paths once more (along with the ever growing fatigue). She trusted him far too easily for him to be a total stranger. She worried about him without even knowing why. Then there were other emotions that she refused to name just yet. Maybe her heart remembered something that her mind had forgotten.

Chihiro nodded as he opened the door and held it open for her.

"Thank you." she murmured before stepping inside.

She felt the blazing heat from the boiler. It was stifling hot. Already she started to sweat. She knew fanning herself would do no good so she didn't try it. It felt like she was in a desert. The heat was almost unbearably hot and dry. There was no moisture in the air to speak of. If this was how it felt on a day to day basis she felt sorry for anyone who came down here.

"Is it always this hot?" she breathed.

She felt like she had far too much clothing on than what was safe. It didn't help with the fatigue she was fighting off or the fuzzy darkness that was trying to surround her. The heat made her sleepy and that wasn't something she wanted to do just yet. Not until they knew what their next move was. That way they could possibly, hopefully, get a head start with some sort of plan without Yubaba finding out and punishing them all.

She smiled though it was strained due to the heat.

"I can probably deal with him being a bit grumpy. If that is the entire mood he is going to be in perhaps this visit will do him some good." Chihiro told him optimistically.

It sounded like to her Kamaji was more or less stuck in this mood. How much did the bathhouse work him anyway?

"I'm sure he'd make an exception for you too. I can't be the only one."


	6. Chapter 6

Remember I do not own Spirited Away or its characters. If I did there would have been an EPILOGUE OR A SEQUEL. All rights reserved for Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki. I just own the plot of the fanfic. Also I apologize for the lateness of this chapter. Work killed me more or less last month. It was race month where I live last month and it was horrendous. I only now was able to relax and get to everything.

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Chapter Six: Kamaji

Haku's mouth twitched as he suppressed a smile. He wished that were the case. Even though Kamaji knew him just before, during and after Yubaba's contract with him that didn't mean he wouldn't get an earful from the boiler man for disturbing him while he worked. Though he owed Kamaji a life debt for watching over him as he lay indisposed weak from Zeniba's curse eight years ago.

"Even so, that doesn't mean I wouldn't get an earful from him," he told her.

The walk to the main part of the boiler room seemed to take forever. And the closer they got to it the more heat seemed to pour over them. He eyed Chihiro noting that she wasn't looking too well. He placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her. This heat was affecting her far more than what she was letting on.

"Don't push yourself too much Chihiro."

He took a hold of her hand and led her into the room. The susuwatari, or soot sprites, were hard at work carrying coal to the furnace and throwing it in. Kamaji was at his work space (which also served as his bed) grinding ingredients that would make the water suitable for each guest that would relax in the baths. His many arms reached in different draws behind him grabbing whatever he needed.

 _Thwack, thwack, thwack_

He noticed Kamaji bang his little wooden hammer on his work station and all the little susuwatari scrambled and hid in their little home just below some of the drawers. He walked with Chihiro across the now deserted floor.

"Kamaji," he greeted the old man.

The boiler man turned around to look at the dragon boy. He didn't get many visitors. The only person that came down there to the boiler room was mostly Lin and that was to bring down meals. However, even if he wasn't Yubaba's apprentice any longer that didn't give him the right to just waltz right in while he was hard at work. Haku could see this on his face. Not so much in his eyes since they were behind his dark glasses, but in the way the older man's jaw set. He was about to let Haku have it.

"Haku… what are you doing down here?" came the gruff question.

This question would start off a long lecture if Haku didn't act soon. He didn't want Chihiro to have to get involved with Kamaji's anger (again). He had heard about how angry Kamaji had been at her for disturbing his work the last time around. He knew it would happen. But he had told her to be insistent on getting a job here. Thankfully she had been.

"That's a long story. And before you give me an earful, I've got someone who wants to see you."

Haku stepped aside letting him see Chihiro.

"A human? Haku who did you bring to see me this time?" Kamaji asked perplexed his gruff manner slipping slightly.

There was something about her that was oddly familiar. The young woman had a high ponytail, t-shirt with a colorful strip around the middle of her shirt and sleeves and shorts and shoes. But he noticed her eyes and his widened by behind his dark glasses. The only way Haku knew that was by the raising of Kamaji's eyebrows.

"It can't be… Sen? Is it really you?"

The entire walk to through that small corridor had Chihiro sweating. The heat was getting worse the closer they got to the main room. She felt like she was going to faint. She looked up when she felt Haku's hand on her shoulder. She smiled a little bit. He was really a great guy even if she couldn't remember him. But she had promised herself that she wasn't going to be a burden to him. And right now it felt like she was being just that: a burden.

"I'm… not trying to." Chihiro muttered.

But she was and they both knew it. She was trying to compensate for her exhaustion by remaining awake and working passed her limits. She knew it was the longer she remained like this the worse she would be when she finally crashed. Now not even her adrenaline was kicking in. She was running on empty (both in sleep and in hunger) and she didn't know just how long she'd last.

As he led her to a tall concrete pillar jutting out from the rest of the layout she noticed that the spirit named Kamaji had many arms. If she was right she counted eight of them? And they were able to extend in different directions and in different lengths. She also noticed before they dispersed moving soot. _Susuwatari?_ The boilers where kept running and working by soot sprites?

She placed a hand on her head. All of this seemed so familiar to her. And yet wasn't. Why? Why couldn't she remember anything?! This was getting to be frustrating. She looked up at Kamaji her hand falling to her side. He looked at her, studying her almost. Then it seemed that something clicked and the name he said was strange. Sen? Why would he call her Sen?

Then she remembered the kanji that spelled out her name. 千尋 spelled Chihiro. And without the second kanji that only left 千 which was Sen. It meant a thousand. So that was what she had been called while she was here the first time around. She had been named Sen for some reason. Chihiro smiled and nodded.

"Yes. Hello, Kamaji."

"Sen? How are you here?" the old spider spirit asked.

"That's a long story Kamaji." she told him.

She looked to Haku for a moment. He had never told her his name. But Kamaji had called him Haku. She'd start calling him that from now on. Now she could start putting faces and names together. What a relief.

Haku kept an eye on Chihiro. It seemed she was drawing a blank as to why Kamaji was calling her Sen. He was about to say something to her when a light bulb went off in her head. He concealed a smile. She wouldn't know why she was called Sen just that she knew she was once renamed that. He remembered explaining that to Chihiro when she had been younger.

 _Haku had found a depressed and somber Chihiro in the gardens just outside the pig pen where her parents were kept. He took out her clothes and handed them to her._

" _Here are your clothes. Hide them." It was a gentle command._

 _She grabbed them and looked up at him._

" _I thought they'd been thrown away."_

 _He offered her a small smile. He wouldn't tell her how he had gotten a hold of them. That had taken some skill in pulling off without anyone noticing._

" _You'll need them to get home."_

 _He crouched down next to her and grabbed the other package he had hidden away in his work uniform. He made them himself and even made sure to cast a strengthening spell on them. She would need her strength in the days to come. He watched her as she placed a hand within her clothes and pulled out a card._

 _Astonished she said, "My goodbye card's still here."_

 _She looked at the kanji written on it for a moment. The kanji that spelled her name seemed to be almost foreign to her. Damn Yubaba._

" _Chihiro…? Chihiro. That's my name isn't it?"_

 _He nodded._

" _That's how Yubaba controls you by stealing your name. So hold onto that card. Keep it hidden. And while you're here you_ _ **must**_ _call yourself Sen."_

 _She nodded in understanding mouth slightly agape._

" _I can't believe I forgot my name. She almost took it from me."_

 _He offered her a small smile, albeit filled with sorrow._

" _If you completely forget it you'll never find your way home. I've tried everything to remember mine."_

 _She looked at him shocked. "You can't remember your name?"_

 _He had looked away by that point, but then he looked back her; a smile, one that wasn't filled with sorrow tugging at his mouth. "No but for some reason I remember yours."_

 _He untied and then unwrapped the package in his hands to show her three perfectly formed rice balls. He took one and offered it to her._

" _Here you go. Eat this, you must be hungry."_

 _Her depressed mood returned and she turned away from him and gave a small, "No."_

 _He tried again. He couldn't have her not eating. She would need to eat and gain her strength back. If she didn't eat then she couldn't do what she needed to._

" _I put a spell on so it'll give you back your strength. Just eat it."_

 _She took the rice ball from him and looked at it for a moment before eating it. She had been hungry but the depression of losing her parents who ended up as pigs as well as the fear of being in a new world, surrounded by strange beings and a sadistic witch who threatened to kill her slowly and had taken her name from her, had stopped her from even considering her own health and needs. Soon she started crying and was unable to stop. He offered her the remaining two rice balls with an arm around her shoulders comforting her._

" _Have some more. You'll be alright."_

 _She took them and ate them just as she had the first one as she cried._

Haku blinked returning to the present from that stroll down memory lane. Would he have to explain that to her again? Or would she remember on her own? This he didn't know. He felt her gaze on him and looked at him.

"Tell him, Sen. As much as you can." he said encouraging her.

All she needed was a little push to get her going. And so he listened to her as she spoke explaining her story to Kamaji. She didn't leave out any details. She couldn't he realized. They were all too fresh in her mind to leave out. It was like word vomit. Once she started she could stop not until everything was out in the open.

And by the time everything was out in the open, she looked as if she was going to pass out. He moved to stand behind her placing his hands on her shoulders.

Kamaji turned to Haku.

"Haku… you know she can't stay down here. I've got plenty of workers already."

"She's not going to see Yubaba."

"She has to. You know it and so do I."

"No. She's not going back under contract. Not again."

Getting her out of her first contract had been hard enough. He wasn't about to put her through that again. And this time he seriously doubted that he could get her out of it if she went under contract once more. Her parents weren't here for Yubaba to use as leverage against her. She was here on her own free will and all by herself. And without any of her memories of her previous experience. This would make things easy for that greedy witch.

Chihiro walked over to the wooden floorboards as Haku and Kamaji went at it after shaking Haku's hands off her shoulders. She needed to sit down. They were arguing over her going under contract again. Whatever that meant. He had told her that once she was there in the boiler room she could rest. And that was exactly what she was doing now. The heat from the furnace was stifling. She supposed it was worse up close. Soon the susuwatari started to move coal again and she pulled up her legs so that they had a clear path.

She actually ended up closing her eyes and started dozing off with the sounds of the furnace, the heat and their arguing lulling her into a somewhat peaceful sleep. However the sounds of one of the susuwatari squealing as it got crushed under a lump of coal awoke her from her small nap. She looked down and her eyes widened.

"Hang on!" she mumbled as she moved to lift the coal from the crushed soot sprite.

The soot sprite in question popped out of the concrete and headed back into its little den. Chihiro blinked astonished that it had left her with the piece of coal.

"What should I do with this?!" she cried out to the susuwatari.

That seemed to get Haku and Kamaji's attention.

"Not again!" the boiler man grumbled. He sighed and placed his fingers against the bridge of his nose. He was going have to be gruff with her. Again.

"Finish what you started human!" he called out to her earning a glare from both Haku and Chihiro.

The young woman in question huffed and made sure that the coal wouldn't drop on her foot as she moved to the furnace's opening with the susuwatari. The little soot sprites made room for her and they all watched in amazement as she threw the coal into the furnace before running back sweat dripping off her.

She had been right… the furnace was indeed hotter up close. The soot sprites looked to her and then at each other for a moment.

"No! I'm not doing that again, so you can forget it!" Chihiro's voice rang out tiredly.

"Haku… Help me sit down? My legs are shaking." she requested.

Haku helped her sit down on the floor boards.

"I can't stay here, Chihiro," he whispered to her. "I have a job to do in the main area of the bathhouse. But I'll send a spirit down here to get you. Alright?"

He watched her as she nodded now far too tired to speak. It looked like she was going to have to see Yubaba. Kamaji couldn't keep her down here for long. Plus with what he just witnessed she would be just fine in front of the witch. She may not have remembered her time here, but she carried the memories with her regardless. Even though he was not Yubaba's apprentice anymore, he was still second in command of the bathhouse. And that meant finding jobs for the new workers. He'd let her be Lin's assistant again. That way he'd have another set of eyes on her when he couldn't be near her. Or when the other spirits here couldn't keep tabs on her.

He moved to leave the bathhouse's boiler room. He had to go get Lin now before the actual work started. And knowing her she was getting Kamaji and the susuwatari's meals ready.


	7. Chapter 7

Remember I do not own Spirited Away or its characters. If I did there would have been an EPILOGUE OR A SEQUEL. All rights reserved for Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki. I just own the plot of the fanfic. Sorry this chapter took a month to get out. Work, just general sleepiness, and not wanting to do anything got in the way. But hopefully you'll all like this late or otherwise.

油 is the kanji for oil or fat. While 油屋 translates to literally mean oil dealer; oil merchant or rather in this case oil house since 屋 means roof, house, shop, dealer or seller. 油屋 or Aburaya is the Japanese name for the bathhouse in the film.

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Chapter Seven: To see Yubaba

Chihiro's eyes closed again. Kamaji had gone back to work or so it appeared. She had been running on fumes for a good while now. She couldn't keep her eyes open any longer. Haku had gone up to the main part of the bathhouse to not only perform his duties but to also send a spirit down there as well. She was up against the work station her head bowed. Her breathing was deep and slow. She was asleep again. Hunger, exhaustion, fear; all of those things, feelings and pains, were a drain on her. She needed to regain at least some semblance of her normal self.

She was shaken awake by someone. She wanted to swat at the person but her arms were too heavy. They felt like dead weight. Again she was shaken. She mumbled something and continued to sleep. She was shaken once more. Her eyes fluttered open. She was awake but barely. Her vision was blurry. So she couldn't see exactly who was there next to her.

"Wha—"

"Sen you need to eat something. Or else you'll disappear."

Something was pressed against her lips and she opened her mouth. She felt something on her tongue and she chewed it swallowing it soon after. Then her eyes closed once more. But she was once again being shaken awake.

"Sen! Hey wake up!"

Chihiro groaned and shook her head. She didn't want to wake up. She wanted to sleep. She needed to sleep. And food but sleep was currently at the very top of her priority list. Food came in second. Her body could not function properly without it.

"SEN!"

Chihiro screamed and fell onto her side. Her eyes were wide and bloodshot.

"'m awake!" she croaked.

Then she saw a woman with brown eyes, pink lips, long straight brown hair tied in a loose backwards ponytail, a long feminine face and a pink worker's uniform. Something about her seemed oddly familiar. She just couldn't put her finger on it. It was the same way with Haku, Kamaji and the entire Spirit World. What she wouldn't do for her memories to return.

"Whoareyou?" she asked through a yawn and as she rubbed her eyes.

"Oh geez, don't you remember anything?" the woman asked her.

Chihiro shook her head. "No. It appears my memories faded."

The woman frowned. She looked at Kamaji and saw that he looked about as shocked as she did. _Oops_ , Chihiro thought. She had forgotten to tell Kamaji that she didn't have her memories. She was so preoccupied by everything else that it quite literally slipped her mind.

"Well, in that case Sen, I'm Lin."

Lin. She wanted to say that the name rang a bell but she would be lying to herself if she did. She opened her mouth to say something but then covered it with the back of her hand as she yawned again. When she stopped yawning, she looked over at Lin and then at Kamaji utterly confused.

"Kamaji how did she know it was me?"

"Well, Sen, I told her. She was about to yell since there is a human in here. And humans aren't tolerated around here."

That made Chihiro blink. Still confused, she tried to process everything through her sleep deprived mind.

"You… told her? And what do you mean humans aren't tolerated here? I'm human and so far I've met Haku, you and Lin. You three seem to be able to tolerate me." Okay it was more than tolerate. It was more like they were long-lost friends.

"Geez Sen, one question at a time. The last time you were here I yelled at you when I first saw you. The other workers were looking for you. And if they had it wouldn't have been good for you in the least.

And Kamaji told me that the human adult sleeping against his work station was you. He had to tell me at least twice before I was convinced.

Humans are looked down upon here in the Spirit World, by the workers in the bathhouse and the witch who runs it in particular. If they accidentally come over here, they've either made a mess or destroyed something and they end up getting turned into animals or killed. They also so stink. Sorry Sen.

And Haku, myself and Kamaji are your friends. You have three more friends who you have yet to see. That's why we haven't been hostile towards you."

That made sense. At least parts of that made sense. Haku, Kamaji and Lin were her friends in this world. Lin said that she even had three more friends she had yet to see. Friends she couldn't remember. She remained awake for fear of Lin yelling at her again. Then she barely remembered that she had eaten something while being more than half asleep.

"Hey Lin? I ate something… what did I eat?"

"Oh, that was Konpeitō."

Konpeitō? They had that candy here in the Spirit World?

Lin saw Chihiro's expression go from confusion to amazement. Apparently she had forgotten that the Spirit World could make anything food wise. So it wasn't strange that they had Konpeitō here in this world. Though, while it was identical to the candy made in her world, this type of candy was really meant for the Susuwatari. Though the other workers and the Gods that came here occasionally ate it as well, it was strangely far too sweet for them to consume large amounts. If a human at it while translucent it would restore them to their original solid state. So would berries as well. But the weasel spirit didn't have any berries to give the young human woman. She just had the candy.

"Kamaji what is Sen doing here anyway?" Lin asked the boiler man. "I thought she was safe in the human world."

"I was in the human world up until a while ago. I was in the human world for eight years." It was better for Lin not to know the details until she could think properly.

"Eight years huh? I knew humans grew up but I didn't know it's been that long since you were here. Eight years. Geez, I remember when you were a scared, whiny little child."

Chihiro scowled at that. "Well, excuse me for being a just that back then: a child."

"Heh. Sorry Sen."

"Lin," came Kamaji's gruff voice, "Sen needs to go see Yubaba again."

"What? No! No, I'm not risking my life again. We nearly got caught the last time! And Sen's not exactly small anymore. So I can't hide her behind me."

Well she was but she wasn't as small as she had been. Kamaji looked to Chihiro and started at the young woman. He used one of his arms and got into a drawer and grabbed something. He waved that something in front of Lin.

"Not even for these roasted newts? They're good ones." Kamaji was bribing Lin with roasted newts! Gross.

Lin took them blushing. Then Kamaji smiled under his big mustache. "Since you're here again Sen, you'll need to go see Yubaba. To work here you have to make a deal with her. She's the head honcho around here."

Chihiro nodded and bowed. "Thanks, Kamaji."

"Good luck Sen!" he told her.

She took off her socks and shoes and laid them down on the concrete. This made the Susuwatari gathered around before taking the items to their little den.

"Alright Lin, I'm ready."

"Just don't pass out before we get there."

"I'll try not to."

With that Lin and Chihiro made their way out of the boiler room.

"We've got to go the top floor. That's where Yubaba lives." The weasel spirit told the human.

Chihiro nodded and placed a hand on her head. Dévà vu again. This time the feeling was getting stronger the more time she spent here. It was like water. She tried to cup it in her hands only to have the memories slide through her fingers leaving her with nothing to grasp onto. It left her tired and frustrated.

She and Lin made through several floors as they rode two elevators up. So far they hadn't been spotted. Every single worker (they were toad spirits; she could tell by their faces) was busy with this or that or the other to really pay much attention to them. Which was a good thing. Luck seemed to be on their side.

"We're half way there, so stay as close as you can." Lin told her.

"Alright."

Just as the third elevator they were on came to a stop something blocked their path. He was tall and large. Very large. And he was also white. He resembled a —

"The Radish Spirit!" Lin exclaimed putting on a strained smiling face.

Yep, he resembled a large mutated radish. The feeling that she was getting was that he had helped her in some small way. But she didn't know what.

"I'm sorry, sir but this elevator only goes one way. You'll have to take another one." Came Lin's voice.

With that she followed Lin again with the Radish Spirit right behind them. As they moved to another elevator, that was much farther away that the last she took in the sights around her. Everything once again felt extremely familiar to her. This entire journey to Yubaba's office felt familiar to the point where she could have probably gotten there by herself. It felt as if she could walk this path by herself. But there were spirits here that weren't so kind to humans. Regardless of what Haku said, she firmly believed that they would flambé her on sight. Or on principle. One of the two. There were corporal forms to many Gods here. And a lot of them didn't have a human form. Which sounded about right since the many different Gods, Goddesses and guardian spirits didn't have human forms. They took the forms of whatever they felt most comfortable with. And it wasn't human ninety-nine percent of the time.

Lin, Chihiro and the Radish Spirit stopped by an elevator stall. There wasn't one there yet since it was currently in use. She tried to make herself as small as possible and Lin took out one of the roasted newts from her apron. She turned her head a little and grinned, giving Chihiro a wink.

"To go up, pull the lever that'll be on your left Sen," she told her.

Chihiro nodded. "What about him?"

She moved her head in the general direction of the Radish Spirit.

"He'll help you. He did so the last time. I'm sure he remembers you."

With that Lin moved to cover the human woman just as the elevator bell dinged to let out its occupants with a toad spirit directing the band of Gods to their rooms.

"Your rooms are right this way gentlemen."

He stopped and turned around walking away from the group.

"Lin."

Just as he made his way over to them, Lin made sure to push Chihiro into the elevator with the Radish Spirit going in after her. It made for a very tight squeeze and Chihiro had a hard time getting to the lever.

"What?!"

"What's that smell?! It's human! You smell just like a human! And not just any human either now that I think about it!"

"Oh really?!"

"You're hiding something from me aren't you? Show it to me Lin!"

Chihiro finally made her way to the lever and pulled it just as Lin showed the toad the roasted newt in her hands.

With that argument behind closed doors (literally) and with them going up, Chihiro remained stuck between the wall of the elevator and the Radish Spirit. She could hardly draw breath since her elbows were ramming into her ribs. They went up floors and stopped every time they reached a certain floor before going back up. The Radish Spirit must have really wanted her to reach Yubaba's office safely. He must have been pretending to be lost just so that he could help her again. Tears stung her eyes. She was getting emotional. And in her current state of distress (hardly any sleep and nothing to eat since that morning) that was a bad thing.

Finally after what felt like the twelfth ding from the elevator they stopped at the top floor. The Radish Spirit got out and let her out as well. Then once she was out and he got back in she bowed to him as he bowed to her just as the elevator's doors closed and left her in the dark hallway.

She looked to her right and saw a bird crest with the kanji character (油) for oil it. She walked over to it and saw an odd looking door knocker. Not wanting to be rude she took it in her hand and knocked hard.

"Don't you have any manners?!" came a loud and exasperated voice.

Chihiro yelped in surprise and jumped back as the door knocker came to life. Eyes rolled to look at her. And it seemed to almost sneer at her.

"You again? What do _you_ want?! I see you're still the pathetic little girl you were the last time you came here."

As tired as she was Chihiro's jaw clenched in anger. Pathetic?! She was not! The door opened and a voice (the same voice as the door knocker; which made her think that Yubaba used the thing to spy through before letting people come into her office), gruff, loud and sharp ran out to her.

"Come in you little brat!"

Shaking in anger Chihiro took a step forward and was about to take another one when she felt herself being yanked in by an invisible hand.

"I said come in!"

She was pulled like a rag doll all the way through doors that opened by themselves (through Yubaba's magic no doubt) and finally she was flung through a final door and tumbled onto a rug with a small scream as her face landed hard on the rug and the underlining stones. She groaned and held her head rubbing the spot where she had crashed head first onto the floor.


	8. Chapter 8

Remember I do not own Spirited Away or its characters. If I did there would have been an EPILOGUE OR A SEQUEL. All rights reserved for Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki. I just own the plot of the fanfic.

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Chapter Eight: Yubaba

Chihiro groaned placing a hand to her head. She didn't like that. She didn't like that at all. Though it was an all too familiar thing going on with her it seemed. She felt as if something like this had happened once before. Soon her attention diverted to three jumping, green heads all with bugling eyes and the same face. They jumped and rolled over to her grunting. She shot up but remained still her eyes still on them. They were trying to trip her, she realized as they kept moving behind her and pushing her legs. But she locked her knees and stood perfectly straight… aside from her shaking.

She looked up to see an older woman writing at her desk. She was of inhumanly large height with a large mound of gray hair combed into a bun at the top of her head. That bun looked awfully familiar to her. Her eyes widened as she remembered the bird-like thing that had been searching for her and Haku what felt like just a few short minutes ago. So this was the proprietor of the bathhouse. This was Yubaba. She was old, with wrinkles on top of wrinkles, with bulging eyes as well. She had a crooked nose and a grotesque bindi-like wart in the middle of her forehead. From the light of the lamp next to her Chihiro could see that Yubaba's eyes were brown just like her own. But unlike her own eyes, Yubaba's were rather cold.

"E-excuse me, Madame Yubaba? I came to you in hopes that you could give me a job." Chihiro told her quietly.

It was then Yubaba stopped writing and moved her hand. Chihiro's mouth was zipped up like a winter coat. She moved to try and get her mouth open again with her hands. But it was futile. She stopped and glared at Yubaba. She might not have remembered this witch, as of right now anyway, but she felt a festering sort of hot anger towards her.

"I don't want to hear such a stupid request coming from you!" she snapped.

She took out a cigarette and lit it with a small flame she produced with her finger. "You dare come back here and ask me for a job? Ha! Not with the last time you were here! Thanks to you, I had to repair everything that was destroyed because of Noh-Face! All because _you_ let him in! It cost me a fortune!"

She took a puff of her cigarette and exhaled a few moments through her nose and then coughed horribly. She managed to catch her breath after she finished hacking up a lung and continued on.

"I should just turn you into a lump of coal! Or maybe a pig. Then I could kill you myself and have your carcass for dinner."

Chihiro gulped, this witch was sadistic. She was terrifying. The young woman could easily see why her ten year old self would be scared of this greedy woman.

"But once again, you made it all the way up here without being seen. Let's thank whoever helped you. So why don't you tell me?"

Yubaba unzipped her mouth.

"Can't you give me a job please?!" she croaked.

"Don't start that again you little brat!"

"Please! I just want to work here!"

"I SAID STOP IT!"

"I just want to work! So give me a job, please!"

"DON'T SAY THAT! NOT AGAIN!"

And with those words, Yubaba flew into a rage and quite literally flew at Chihiro. She stayed put as best she could. With the large witch in her face it was hard to do that. She was being bent backwards! Yubaba pointed a long painted finger at her and began poking her in the stomach with it. It hurt.

"Why on Earth should I give you a job?! I should kill you right here and now! You destroyed my bathhouse the last time you were here! And I can see you're still a lazy, good-for-nothing, spoiled little brat with no manners to speak of!"

Chihiro's jaw clenched. Yubaba was being unfair! And downright cruel! She had manners! She wasn't spoiled or lazy! She wasn't at all a good-for-nothing either! Each of these things the witch pointed out made that festering hot anger reach its boiling point. She was beyond exhausted. She was starving. She needed food and sleep. And to stay here in this world she needed to work. Yubaba was the only person that could give her the job that would allow her to stay here.

"Now get out! I've got all the lazy bums I need! Or perhaps I'll make good on my previous mention and give you the most difficult job I've got. I'll work you until you breathe your last breath."

As she threatened her with death again, Yubaba placed two fingernails on Chihiro's exposed throat. Maybe she was just going to kill her now and be done with her. But Chihiro's will to live was strong. She refused to die. And she refused to be bullied into leaving especially since she had no way of getting home, and didn't want to go home.

"No. I won't leave." Came her quiet reply. Then came a spiel of her own. And her voice got louder with each word.

"I won't leave. I'm not lazy. And I'm not spoiled or a good-for-nothing. I can work as well as the next person. And your threats don't faze me at all." Okay that was a lie. Yubaba's threats frightened her. "I have manners. I knocked, I called you Madame. I even said please. Your assumptions of me are based on the memories of a ten year old child! I'm not ten anymore. I'm a working adult in the human world. I am responsible. What messes I make I make sure to fix them. So once again, I. AM. NOT. LEAVING." Chihiro snarled.

It only took a few second of glaring at each other. But then loud screaming could be heard and so could banging noises. She gasped as a door was smashed to pieces by nothing more than what she assumed to be wind. And then came other things from the other room and Yubaba's office as well.

"MAMA! WHO ARE YOU THREATENING NOW?!" came a loud shout.

"Oh dear! You woke up the baby!" Yubaba cried as she ran to the door. "N-no one Boh! I'm not threatening anyone important!"

Boh? Her baby's name was Boh? Yubaba turned back to Chihiro and glared at her again.

"What are you still doing here?! I told you to leave!"

"I'm not leaving! Not until you give me a job!"

Yubaba opened her mouth but was forced back when a gust of wind (power, Chihiro realized understanding now that Boh was Yubaba's son and so had magic) blew her away from the door.

"Mama tell me the truth!"

The baby came out of his room and Chihiro had to blink several times to make sure that she was seeing this right. She needed to make sure her exhaustion wasn't making her see things. Boh was a toddler. Not a baby. At least not anymore. But he had a bib on that spelt his name. And he was slimming down. But he was still pretty big. Twice as tall as she was. And she had a feeling he was still growing too.

"I'm not Boh—"

"She is!" Chihiro spoke up. What was she doing? Was she really going to this? Yes, yes she was. Boh turned to her and looked at her. She could see him trying to recognize her. She was all grown up now. So it would make sense that he wouldn't.

"It's me, Sen. Your mama was threatening to kill me, Boh!"

That made Boh angry she noted.

"You threatened Sen?! MAMA!"

Wild magic turned the office into total disarray. Things were flying off the shelves, onto the floor, into walls. Things were over turned. It was utter chaos. And Chihiro had to fling herself onto the ground and cover her head in protection.

"Boh—"

"No, Mama! You're not allowed to threaten Sen anymore! She's MY friend! If you try to hurt her or make her cry I won't like you anymore!"

"But I—"

"Give Sen her job back mama!"

Yubaba's shoulders sagged in defeat. It was apparent that she could not deny her son anything. Or almost anything.

"Fine. But let's get you back to bed."

She left after giving Chihiro a hateful look that looked quite comical with the bulging bug eyes. Chihiro didn't have to wait for long for a piece of paper and a pen to come floating to her.

"That's your contract. Sign your name away and I'll put you to work." Came Yubaba's annoyed tone. She was still in Boh's room it sounded like.

She took both and had to kneel on the floor and placed the paper on the hearth. Quickly she wrote her name as small as she could on her arm and then wrote her name in the empty space on the paper. She had her back to Yubaba so she didn't see her using magic to fix the place up. But she did hear her.

"If I hear any complaint out of you, you'll be in the pig pen. Got that?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Are you done yet, you little brat?"

"Yes."

She felt the paper slip from her fingers and fly over to Yubaba. She turned around; standing tall as the old crone looked at the paper and then placed her hand on it. Her eyes widened as she saw the witch wrap her hand around the kanji that spelled part of her name. Did she—? Did she just steal her name?

"You don't need to tell me what your name is here. You already know it. But your real name is mine now."

The witch cackled and then moved to pull a cord. It took a few minutes but Haku came. She was shocked.

"You called for me?" he asked coldly.

"This girl signed a contract. Set her up with a job." Yubaba said already bored and tired now as well.

"Right." He turned to Chihiro and eyed her. "Follow me, Sen."

He didn't need her to tell him her 'new' name. He already knew it. And so did she.

She followed Haku as soon as he started walking. She wanted out of that office. It didn't take long to get out of there. But the tension in the air between her and Haku was so thick that she could cut it with a knife.

"Haku?" she asked softly as they made their way to the elevator. Could he tell that her body was close to giving out?

"Don't talk to me. And address me as _Master Haku_ ," he sharply told her.

Chihiro's eyes widened. Why was he so cold to her all of a sudden? She didn't like it. His mood swings… she couldn't wrap her head around them. One minute he was friendly, supportive, gentle. And the next he was cold and almost cruel. His words rang in her head about times where it he would make it appear that he wasn't on her side. But he really was. Right? He had said he was on her side. So was this just for show? She placed a hand on her head. She was tired. So tired. She shouldn't be trying to think right now.

They stepped in the elevator and road it down. Once down on the first floor for that elevator they took the stairs and went down several flights. Even then she could feel stares at her. People were pointing. Whispering. She wished she knew what they were talking about though.

As they walked down the final flight of stairs a large group of people had gathered at the ground floor. They parted to let them pass.

"So, Sen's back?" asked one.

"She doesn't look like Sen."

"She stinks! She'll stink up the whole place again!"

"I still don't care what Yubaba says. We're not taking her!"

Voices carried over one another in a blend. These were the people she had once saved. And now she was being looked at as if she were some type of bug in a bell jar.

"Three days of eating our food and her smell will go away." Haku told them. He almost sounded bored.

"I promise to work really hard." Chihiro bowed her head.

"And if she doesn't work hard, roast her, boil her, do whatever you want. Now get back to work!" he told them sharply.

"Where's Lin?!"

Lin's voice carried over the remnants of everyone else's. "Hey, don't you just dump her on me! Ask her want she wants!"

"You're getting your assistant back. Are you complaining?"

"Ugh. You owe me Haku. Ya hear me?"

"Sen, get going!"

"Right!" Chihiro scampered over Lin's side after bowing to the foreman, the assistant manager, and Haku before following Lin.

"So, Lin… What's with Haku?" she asked her old friend.

"What do ya mean?"

"He seemed really cold just now."

"He's no longer Yubaba's henchman, but he is still second-in-command. So while he doesn't have to answer to her in the same way anymore, one of his jobs as second-in-command is to find the new hires a job. So he has to deal with Yubaba when it comes to them and to make sure they have a job after they signed a contract."

"Oh." So it was just routine then. But that still didn't mean he had to be cold to her. All of this was making her head swim. All of this was too familiar. All of this déjà vu was annoying. She just wanted to remember already.

They made their way to a large room. Lin walked over to a closet and opened the door. There were already people here and they were asleep.

"This is our room," she told Chihiro. "Some food and some sleep and you'll be fine Sen."

She got Chihiro her new clothes and had her strip of her human world clothing (shirt, pants and bra). Then she quickly got redressed in her work uniform. She had to make sure that Lin did not see her back. Which easy to do, surprisingly, since the older woman was busy tossing her human world clothing somewhere to have them destroyed or thrown out. She didn't know. She helped Lin pull out a futon, blanket and a pillow and found a place next to the outer wall which was actually next to where Lin slept.

"Sen?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you going to eat something? There's some food here for you."

"Too tired." She mumbled already getting under the blanket. She curled up into a little ball and closed her eyes.

"Alright then, Sen. Sleep well." Lin, soon too got her bedding and laid down. Within minutes Lin was out. That left Chihiro as the only one awake. It didn't take long before she finally allowed herself to cry. And boy did she cry. She cried for hours. She had been so frightened. She had been so scared that this thing that had come after would have ended up killing her had she stayed in the human world. And then Yubaba. And everything else in between. She cried for hours not stopping until finally her world faded to black and she fell asleep. Even then she did not a get a moment's peace. She cried even as she slept.


End file.
